Smoant Knight 80 Review

I really didn’t know what to expect from this, I chose to review it because I hadn’t seen much written up about it, there didn’t seem to be a lot of hype around it either, it’s as if this was developed, released, and simply forgotten about. I was curious to see how it performed.

During the months March 2020 – August 2020 a lot of devices have come and gone without getting their fair share of airplay, mainly due to COVID, restrictions, shipping being understaffed, and understandably the economy, but there were a few gems in the rough that were released during that time that really should get a look in.

Today’s device is something I’d definitely put in that category.

Let’s check out the Smoant Knight 80!

Big thanks goes to SourceMore for sending this through for me to review!

Photos

First Impressions

I’m going to give you fair warning right here and now, I’ll be talking the Smoant Knight 80 up a fair bit during this review, because it just really is that good. As soon as I opened the box and took it out, I knew that this wasn’t going to be ‘just’ another device out of China. The bulk and feel to this device is solid. With rounded edges taking the sharpness out of the corners, this boxy shape fits really well in the hand and you can simply feel that Smoant have pushed for a quality build in this one.

There is a fair amount of ingenuity to come out of this Knight 80 design too.

Primarily quite boxy, but comfortable, the Smoant Knight 80 is a POD/Mod device, with removable coils, a massive 4ml eliquid capacity, maximum 80W power output, and moving away from the normal Pod/Mod trend, a removable battery.

Other nifty features are its side fire button, unique airflow control, top airflow, slide in POD and USB Type-C charge port, and a host of vaping related options, like several temperature control settings as well as a Bypass mode.

The Main Body

Measuring in at 90 x 45 x 27mm, the Smoant Knight 80 is a little larger than most Pod/Mods, this is mainly in order to be able to house the 18650 battery bay, but also quite a large screen.

Built from zinc-alloy, this Pod/Mod doesn’t feel heavy at all, quite light really even if a little bulky, there is not a lot of weight behind it. Despite it’s light weight, it doesn’t feel cheap at all, with zero rattles and everything fitting together quite snugly, it has quite a quality feel to it.

From the top down, you’ve got the Knight 80 unique airflow adjustment built into the drip tip, large POD with removable coil, side fire button, large screen on the front with additional up and down wattage control buttons, charging port on the opposite side, and venting holes on the bottom.

The POD

From the outside in, you’ll notice that the tinted POD slides into position, on the side of the device. There is a clip at the top that lines up with the negative space on that side of the mod allowing it to slide in nicely, and fit snug with very little movement against the device itself.
The POD clicks down with a noticeable snap of the magnets, which are quite strong, with no real risk of the POD ever flying off, even when flicked.

The POD is an interesting concept, similar to what we have seen with a few Lost Vape products, the airflow comes in from the top via the airflow adjustment below the drip tip which lines up with air vents underneath it, to allow and endless possibility of airflow options right up to quite an open yet slightly restricted airflow.

Because of the top airflow, the POD design took on a sort of POD within a POD kind of solution, if you catch my meaning. Look through the POD you can actually see the smaller chamber where the e-liquid sits suspended inside of the air chamber. It’s quite clever really, having the air come in through the top, travel around the liquid chamber, where it then comes up from underneath the coil. This stops any issues with leaking from airholes in the bottom of the coil completely.
It does create an interesting feel to the airflow, but I kind of like it. The flavour seems a little more condensed which is a good thing.

Coils

Like many are now doing, the coils for the Smoant Knight 80 screw down onto an adapter/fitting, which is all pushed home into the POD as one piece.
The reason this is done, is to push the coil further into the POD making sure the airflow lines up correctly, and is separated from the e-liquid. You’ll notice that the adapter fits with quite a good seal, and that there is no airflow at all from underneath the POD itself. It’s completely sealed.

You’ll get 2 coils with the kit.

• 0.3ohm mesh coil (installed)
  The default coil is actually really good. Rated for 50-65 Watts, this is a flavour beast, and drives home some nice and thick, dense flavour. It’s airflow is quite open, but condensed at the same time, I’ve found running it at around 58 Watts is my sweet spot.
  
• 0.4ohm dual mesh coil
  The dual mesh is also quite good. I’ve noticed that it’s not so airy, and you get an even more condensed airflow out of it, getting the airflow right down to an almost MTL draw if that’s what you’re after. On these large coils that won’t be too pleasant though! Instead, using this for a few days at around 45 Watts with the airflow about 3/4 open seemed to put out some pretty impressive flavour.
  

Airflow

As you can see above, the POD itself has 2 kidney shaped airflow holes that are covered by the drip tip’s adjustable airflow ring, turning this ring adjust the airflow, and gives you quite a range even for a top airflow POD.
Quite an impressive design to be honest!

You’ll be able to get some pretty open airflow out of this, not completely open, but I’d call it a slightly restricted open airflow. You’ll also be able to get this right down to an almost MTL draw if you like things a little more restricted. Pure MTL vaping is not really an option however due to the coils.

The Smoant Knight 80 can take Pasito coils also so you might have better luck with those for MTL action.

Battery

As you can see the battery bay for your 18650 is nice and neat and tidy, accessed by removing the front door of the device which is held in by magnets. I’ll admit that this door fits so well and seamlessly to the body, I originally thought that this was an internal battery device. No rattle, no movement, and it’s designed to fit in with the rest of the mod.

The Positive terminal is spring loaded so it’s easy to get your battery in and out without damaging it. Putting the door back on is also quite enjoyable with that audible snap of the magnets coming together.

Smoant have provided a USB Type-C charging port on the side so you can get a 1Amp charge in an emergency, if you don’t have an external charger around to use. It also has pass-through, so you can vape while charging.

Filling

Probably one of the simplest filling I’ve seen in a while. The Knight’s fill hole is on the back of the POD, simply lift the silicone plug, and fill away. The silicone plug has plenty to grip onto when lifting so large fingers are catered for!

Any Leaks?

None, nada. It’s a top airflow POD so I haven’t seen nor expected a drop of leaking.

Usage

The Knight 80 is really easy to use. Using a combination of the fire button and up and down buttons, you can navigate the settings quite easily.
What is impressive, is that Smoant have kindly given us temperature control as well as several other options. I’m assuming it’s due to the availability of the RBA coil, which is an added bonus if you pick one up.
I don’t have one here, so cannot give you my experience with it.

Anyway, it’s not only the settings that make this great value, but the auto wattage also. When you plunk a coil in here, the Knight 80 automatically detects the coil used, and sets the wattage to what it thinks is appropriate.
Best of all, when removing the POD or batteries, it doesn’t ask you repeatedly like other devices do, so that’s another tick for my sanity 🙂

As mentioned earlier, the Knight 80 has a nice 0.96″ OLED screen, it’s only black and white but it’s really nicely laid out, with all of the information you need, plain to see. I’ve had no issues reading any of the values on the screen, they use quite a nice sized font for everything.

The Knight 80 has 4 modes that you can choose from with 3 clicks of the power button, and cycling through them with the up/down buttons.

• Wattage Mode
  Wattage Mode is just that, a manual wattage mode. Honestly, this is what most will use and likely not even stray from it.
• Bypass Mode
  Bypass mode, bypasses all circuits and puts the device into a kind of mech mod mode, running only the voltage provided by the battery and outputting power based on that and your coil resistance.
• DVW Mode
  This mode is what is called a custom power curve mode. It’s quite difficult to use, but works. Only the most curious tinkerer will use this one.
• Temperature Control Mode
  As described, you have Ni, Ti, and SS, as well as a TCR setting so that you can set your own temp control values. By default it will be in auto mode, but you can set the maximum wattage you want it to fire up to. When you set your temperature, if you scroll all the way to the extreme, it will round robin to switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit.

So as you can see, there’s a lot going on there under the hood and Kudos to Smoant for providing all of that for us who like to tinker.
Of course you also have fairly common button combinations like 5 clicks of the power button to turn the device off/on, and pressing the up/down buttons simultaneously will lock the device. I would have liked to have seen a wattage lock in there somewhere, so that I couldn’t accidentally change it but its not a big deal.

Pros:

• Excellent flavour
• Fantastic airflow and adjustment
• Removable 18650
• Removable coils
• 4ml e-liquid capacity
• 80 watts of power!
• Extra functionality for temperature control if you use an RBA coil.

Cons:

• A little bulky for a POD/Mod
• POD tint is quite dark to see e-liquid levels
• No wattage lock
• No real MTL option out of the box
  

Where to Buy:

You can get hold of the Smoant Knight 80 for a pretty great price right now since it has been out for a while already.
Sourcemore have it for $26 USD and various other stores have it for around a similar price.

Conclusion

I love this little POD/Mod. It simply works as it should and works well. I’ve found that it produces absolutely fantastic flavour with a lovely dense airflow. Because it is a top airflow device that feeds the air under the coil, you’re getting a completely leak free setup, with the flavour of an under coil airflow, which really is excellent.

Smoant have spared no expense in quality of parts either with everything fitting together perfectly, with zero rattle or movement, you won’t even guess the battery door is there unless you were looking for it.

Huge thumbs up for a device that you can carry around all day long that won’t cause any issues, and vapes like a champion.

Excellent job on this Smoant, it’s a fantastic little device, that will stay in my rotation for a long while!

Shane Presser

Shane Presser has been vaping since 2013, and has extensive experience with advanced equipment, coil builds and DIY mixing. He is the man behind VapersGarage, and also more recently Aussie Vape Stores, a resource to help vapers find their nearest Vape Shops, and eLiquid Vendors.